Lessons With The Lorax Blog Tour

I was asked to participate in a blog tour to support the upcoming release of Universal Pictures’ Dr. Seuss’ The Lorax.   I am so honored to be part of this wonderful series.  

I can't wait to go see the movie.  I think the kids are really going to love it. 

In honor of The Lorax, I wanted to share a project reusing an item that can be found in most people's homes.  Reusing items around the house and transforming them into something new is one of my favorite things to do.   It's rubbing off on the kids too.  They are notorious for finding uses for things that are destined for the recycle bin.  I love that!!

We have had such a mild winter this year.  With temperatures in the 50's and 60's, it feels like Spring is just around the corner.  I am already planning our garden for this year.  To satisfy some of my gardening cravings, I decided to go ahead and get started on some of my herbs.  Today I am going to show you how to turn toilet paper rolls into seed starter pots.

Let's get started.

The first thing you will need is toilet paper rolls, preferably ones that have not been bleached.  I did find some that looked like they had been bleached.  I used them to see if my project would work.  I won't use them in the garden though.



Then you want to cut the rolls in half.



Next, cut up newspaper or any other thin non glossy paper you can find.   The newspaper really worked the best, but I also had some brown paper that was used in a package I received.  It worked pretty well too.   Cut the paper into small strips.





Then layer the strips across the bottom of the toilet paper roll.  I also put a strip all the way around the toilet paper roll to secure the pieces across the bottom.





The kids loved helping.



Let them dry overnight.

Once they are dry, you can fill them up with compost or potting soil.




I placed a couple of cilantro seeds in each of mine, then covered them with the compost.

Then give them a little bit of water.

Once your new seedlings are big enough and it is warm enough outside, you can transplant the pots to your garden.  Remove the paper bottom before planting to allow the roots more room to grow. 

Be sure to check out the other blog tour participants.

Feb. 21   The Green Parent
Feb. 22   Eco Child's Play
Feb. 23   The Smart Mama
Feb. 24   My Plastic Free Life
Feb. 27   Retro Housewife Goes Green
Feb. 28   Groovy Green Livin
Feb. 29   Mindful Momma
Mar. 1    Grean and Clean Mom
Mar. 2    Moms Going Green Blog
Mar. 3    Kitchen Stewardship
Mar. 4    Nature Moms

THE LORAX will be in theatres on March 2nd.

Website: http://www.theloraxmovie.com/
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/theloraxmovie
YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/theloraxmovie
Twitter: http://twitter.com/thelorax

Tips for a Green Halloween

Keeping Halloween "green" is no easy task. Cheap, plastic-y costumes are for sale everywhere. There are aisles of Halloween candy for sale at the grocery store. There are school parties and trick or treating. When you are trying to be healthy and environmentally friendly, it is a bit overwhelming. I am no expert, but here are some of the things I am going to try to do this year.

1. The costume. Make your own costume. You don't have to know how to sew to do this. Get creative and use stuff you already have around the house. If your house is like my house, we have tons of dress up clothes that can be transformed into Halloween costumes. If you aren't finding what you need at home, head to a thrift store. I know this is a hard one so no judging here if you opt to buy a costume. Just try to get something that you know they will wear again for dress-up or a costume that can be passed down to a sibling or friend. Also don't forget to check with friends anf family to see if they have anything that you can use.

2. Trick or Treating. These ChicoBags are really cute, but really you can use just about anything. When I was growing up we used a pillowcase. Have your kids decorate the pillowcase using washable markers. Last year Harper decorated an oatmeal container and used that for trick or treating.

3. Candy or treats. There are an endless number of options here. Greenhalloween.org is a great resource and will give you some great ideas for food and no-food items. My rules are buy organic, fair trade chocolate or candy that has no artifical coloring and no preservatives. The fewer ingredients listed the better. You can always buy non food items, but to me this ends up being junk I have to clean up later or throw away. I bought 2 bags of candy from Yummy Earth about a month ago when it was on sale at Whole Foods.

4. Dealing with the stash. So now you are home and have all this candy, now what? Have the kids dump out their loot on the floor. Go ahead and let them indulge a little. I believe everything is ok in moderation. We usually let them pick a couple of pieces of candy that they can eat right then. The rest is put away. We don't eat candy very often at my house so this is not a big deal yet. We just recently threw out the candy from Halloween last year. Once the kids are in bed you can go through the candy and weed out the stuff you don't want them to have. Save the rest for very special occasion treats. After a couple of weeks the stash can mysteriously disappear. At least that is what is going to happen at our house.

Anyone else have any green Halloween tips to share?

Feeling Clean and Green

Recently I stumbled across the book Clean. It's a cleansing or "detox" program that is designed to rid your body of toxins. I have always be intrigued by these cleansing programs, but have never done much research into them. This program seemed different. It made more sense to me. So I ordered the book. Once I read the book cover to cover, I was convinced that I wanted to give it a go.

On Saturday I started the elimination portion of program. He includes menus in the book as well as a list of foods that you can and can not eat. You can not have wheat, red meat, dairy, sugar, caffeine (there are a couple of teas that you can have), or alcohol. You can not eat anything with preservatives, additives, nitrates, or artificial anything. Basically, you eat fresh organic fruits , vegetables, lean meats, fish, beans, and grains like brown rice or quinoa. There are also supplements that he recommends.

You do the elimination program for a week and then you do the cleansing program for 3 weeks. Going into it I knew that I did want to do the full program. My goal was to complete the elimination part. Doing the cleansing for 3 weeks is not realistic right now. It is a lot of work as far as the preparation goes, but I do know that there are certain things that I am going to change about my diet now which will help me to continue to be Clean.

Since I have been so conscious of the food I am putting into my body, it has made me more aware of other toxins that you normally don't think about. It has reaffirmed that there is a good reason why I choose certain sunscreens or lotions. There is a reason I want to eat organic and locally grown food. I buy hot dogs for the kids that don't contain nitrates for a very good reason. Sometimes it is hard to remember why we do these things. Now don't get me wrong. We are not perfect, but I know we are on the right path.

I'm a Soccer Mom

Well, I am now officially a soccer mom. Harper had her first soccer practice last night and she was SO excited. She did really well and I think she is going to love it. Doesn't she look so cute in her shin guards and cleats?

Miller didn't want to miss out on the action so he wanted me to take a picture of them together. These photos cracked me up.

I know I promised a post about green birthday ideas, but I have not had time to get it all together. Maybe next week, but I am not making any promises.

Also, don't forget to enter my giveaway. It ends next Wednesday. Since Earth Day is slowing approaching, I am going to be hosting a couple more giveaways between now and then so be on the look out.

Earth Hour is this Saturday (March 28th) so don't forget to turn off the lights at 8:30 your time.

Have a good weekend everyone!!!

How I Felt Wool Sweaters

Since I have felted my share of sweaters, I thought I would share my technique with you. This is what I have found works for me and the projects that I do.

Where do I find the wool sweaters?
I find my sweaters at thrift stores. My local Goodwill has a half price sale the first Saturday of every month. So that is when I shop for my sweaters. I live in the south so there is not an over abundance of wool sweaters. I have to hunt for them. Fortunately, I have become pretty good at spotting which ones are wool. My brother and his girlfriend are avid thrifters so they always keep me mind when they are shopping. (Thanks guys!) My family is nice enough to give me first dibs on any clothes they are getting rid of or donating too.

What kind of wool sweater works best?
I have found that 100% wool sweaters work the absolute best. In my experience, Old Navy and Gap sweaters felt up really nicely. Blends will work, but not as well. The thickness of the sweater will make a difference when felting. If you want a thinner material to work with, look for a thinner sweater and vice versa. If the sweater has a hole in it, the hole will not disappear with felting. Holes don't scare me though. If anything, they make me feel better about my purchase. I feel like I am truly rescuing the sweater from the landfill.

How do I felt the wool sweaters?
The first thing that I do is sort my sweaters by color. You don't want to wash a dark sweater with a light sweater. Once they are sorted, I put them in my washing machine and wash them using the hot cycle. I have found that most of the time I have to wash them a second time to really shrink them up. You will have some stray fuzzies that you will have to clean out of the washing machine so beware. After I am happy with the felting, I put them in the dryer and dry them on high. That's it. The sweaters should be nice and felted and you can use them for whatever your heart desires.

I know some people air dry the sweaters and others cut the sweaters up first. It really just depends on what you are going to do with the sweater. I like to use the sleeves for my coffee cozies so I have found for me it works best to keep the sweater intact. Plus, I usually have no idea what I am going to do with the sweater until I do it.

**Disclaimer-I am by no means an expert and do not claim that my way is the best or right way.

Happy felting everyone.

I did manage to post some more coffee cozies to my shop so go take a peek.

Little Changes

Lately, I have been all about tweaking little things in my life to make every day life a little easier and hopefully greener in the process. I am mostly jotting these things down as a journal for me, but if someone else gains from it all the better. Here's a list of some of my little changes:

1. I have been making a bigger pot of coffee and drinking it for a couple of days. The second day it is not as fresh, but it still tastes good. I only drink one cup a day so I was making just a little bit each day.

2. I have been drinking my cup of coffee while still at home instead of lugging a big ol' cup with me to work. I would drink off that one cup until lunch time. As a result, I was hardly drinking any water.

3. I only wash my hair every other day. We only wash the kids hair every other night so why wouldn't it work for me too? I tried stretching it to every third day, but my hair feels too greasy. This allows me to take a shorter shower and I spend less time drying my hair.

4. We make yogurt about once a week. I use a double boiler so there is always water left over in the bottom pot. We also use ice water to cool the milk down before adding the yogurt starter. I save all of this water and water the plants with it.

5. After reading some of Siblings Without Rivalry, I started changing how I respond when the kids are fighting. I am still learning, but I can already see a difference. It is amazing (and pretty scary)how much of an impact my words and actions have on my children.

6. I have secretly vowed to myself that I am going to make presents or buy used toys for all the kid's (friends and cousins included) birthdays that we have coming up.

It really is amazing that such small changes can make a huge difference.

Paper, Paper, How I Love Thee

I love magazines, books, lists, and pretty stationary. I love paper. This creates a problem when you are trying to be environmentaly conscious. I try to stay away from magazines eventhough Real Simple was calling to me the other day at the store and I had to buy it. I borrow books and go to the library. I reuse paper for lists and taking notes at work, but sometimes that is not enough.

To cope with my love of paper, I am constantly trying to think of new ways to reuse it. So when I received a package last week from a wonderful Etsy seller, I was thrilled to see my buttons stowed away in a box made from paper scraps. I immediately unfolded it so that I could see how it was constructed. Then I found a tutorial online to fill in the blanks. I had to make boxes for each of the kids and they both took them to school the next day.

Then I stumbled across another tutorial explaining how to make gift bows out of recycled magazines. Too bad I found this after Christmas.

There are a countless number of projects you can do with scrap paper, magazines, and paper bags. These are just a few that I have stumbled across lately. Anyone else have any other ideas you want to share?

I guess paper is on my mind these days. I have listed a few paper type items to my shop this week. I have been working on taking better photos for my shop too. It has been very challenging for me. I am getting better, but welcome constructive criticism.

I'm Dreaming of a Green Christmas

Christmas is on my mind. I have been thinking about Christmas for months now. What to get people on our list? How to wrap gifts in an eco-friendly way? Are there gifts I can make? We have already decided that we are buying less this year. So much of what we usually give the kids ends up in the back of the closet.

Here's some ideas that I thought I would share with you:

• For the aspiring artist, visit The Stubby Pencil Studio. If you missed it, read my review here.


• Sprig Toys offers eco-friendly trucks and vehicles. The toys are made from a bio-composite material made from recycled wood and reclaimed plastic. You can find them at Amazon.com.


• Green Toys has an adorable tea set, an indoor garnening kit, sand toys, and a cookware and dining set. They use recycled milk containers as the main ingredient in creating their toys.


• If you need more of a selection and don't mind shopping online, be sure to check out Oompa Toys. They have good selection of organic toys. They also have a section for toys made in the USA.


• You can never go wrong with something handmade. If you don't have the time or energy to make something yourself, browse through the shops on Etsy.com.


• Use recycled wrapping paper. Check out Fish Lips Paper Design or Earthloven.


• If gift bags work better for you, The Ole Bag Lady has a HUGE selection of reusable fabric bags at a reasonable price.

I am off to do some shopping.

Lost Socks

I stumbled across this book last week and I knew I had to order it. I received it on Saturday and had a little free time on Sunday to make the dog for my son. The dog is made from a pair of my socks that have not been worn in a couple of years. Then I threw together the cat for my daughter. I used one of her old socks that was alone in her drawer. Who knows what happened to the other one? I had cute little white buttons picked out for the eyes, but Harper insisted on the maroon ones. All of the patterns use a pair of gloves or socks, but it is easy to mix and match lone socks or gloves to make any of these adorable creatures.

I was a little afraid that the toddler sock would be too small, but I think it worked out perfectly. They stretch like crazy. What a great way to use outgrown socks and make a little keepsake or gift.

Speaking of gifts, I made this hat to match these booties last week. Now I just need to mail it to the little girl before winter is over. I have several little projects in the works in hopes of opening up an Etsy store in time for Christmas shopping. So hopefully more on that next week.

Has anyone else been doing anything crafty?

Lean Mean Green Hygiene

As I mentioned here and here, one of my biggest challenges so far has been "greening" my cosmetics, soaps, and lotions. I settled on a face lotion and a body lotion without much problem, but shampoo has been a whole different story.

I started my shampoo makeover with the Whole Foods 365 brand. It contains no preservatives or parabens. It was fine, but nothing special. While at K-Mart one day, I came across a bunch of Jason products heavily discounted. I picked up some Tea Tree Oil Scalp Normalizing shampoo and Aloe Vera conditioner. The first few times I used the shampoo I was not impressed. It has a very strong smell. After some experimenting, I discovered that I do not need the conditioner after using this shampoo. When I use the shampoo alone, it's not too bad.

Still on a mission to find something perfect, I decided to try Burt's Bees Rosemary Mint Shampoo Bar. The idea of a bar was immediately appealing, since there would very little packaging. The bar smells wonderful, but it is hard to get a good lather and when dried my hair just looks stringy and feels funny. I tried using a little Jojoba oil when I got out of the shower and before I dried my hair, but then my hair just felt icky. Guess I will stick with the Tree Tree Oil Shampoo for now.

The second thing I have been focusing on is deodorant. I searched the EWG's cosmetic database and found Almay's Clear Gel Hypoallergenic Antipersperant & Deoderant was rated a 1. I have been using it for about a month and it works really well. I also tried Lady Mitchum Clear Gel Unscented, but I felt stinky after a couple of hours. Both contain ALUMINUM ZIRCONIUM TETRACHLOROHYDREX, which supposedly is not as readily absorbed into the skin as other Aluminum compounds. It basically clogs the pores preventing the pores from releaasing sweat. I still want to try the Crystal, but will have to use up my current deodorant first. I thought about making some like Angry Chicken, but I am just not sure I am that adventurous yet.

I know you guys were all wondering about my personal hygiene, right? Well, there you go. If I smell a little funny now you will know why.

No New Clothes - Chapter 1

Last Friday I started my quest to find some fall/winter used clothing for my kids. I know stores are starting to put out fall clothes so I thought now might a good time to start. I was right. The first consignment store I hit starts accepting winter clothes July 1st. They already had a decent selection of items and it did not seem totally picked over. While I was checking out, I was making small talk with the cashier and she mentioned that she had boxes of clothes that they did not have room to put out yet. She let me weed through the boxes with the sizes that I was looking for. Guess it pays to be friendly. The second store I went to was a little more expensive, but I found some items that I knew would be perfect for my son.

Here's what I got:

1. 4 long sleeve t-shirts for my son. All sporting some sort of locomotive, which is currently all he will wear.

2. 2 pairs of Stride Rite shoes for my son. He has a very wide foot and Stride Rite fit him the best. These shoes look brand new. They are a big for him now, but hopefully by winter they will be perfect.

3. Janie & Jack skirt for my daughter. Ok, I know I am supposed to be shopping for winter clothes, but I could not resist. Besides, she will be able to wear it next summer for sure.

4. Gymboree bike shorts for my daughter. These still had the tags on them. Again, another summery item, but she will be able to wear them next year (hopefully)

5. Gymboree sweater for my daughter. I found this one digging through the boxes. It is really cute.

6. Furry sweatshirt jacket for my daughter. I also found this digging through the boxes. It is a good medium weight so she should get some good use out of it.

I was very happy with my first round of shopping. Maybe this won't be too hard after all.

Some Tuesday Tidbits

Today I thought I would share a few little tidbits of things I have wanted to share, but never seemed quite enough to warrant an entire post on its own.

My kids love popsicles. I bought some molds so that we can make our own. I had intentions of whipping up some smoothie or yogurt type pops, but have been too lazy. So instead I have been filling them with organic apple juice or lemonade. I personally like the lemonade ones the best. They think it is a big treat and I don't feel guilty about it.

Every now and then my daughter's hair is difficult to brush after it as been washed. I used an old spray bottle and mixed about a tablespoon of conditioner (Jason's Aloe Vera) with some water and shook it up. Now I have leave in conditioner. I even use it on my hair sometimes when I have bed head.

My kids also love yogurt pops. I buy the Horizon ones and freeze them. Their hands get so cold when they hold them. So I stick some old baby socks on the end to block some of the cold and it helps absorb some of the stickiness.

I know I have more tidbits share, but it is late and I must go to bed. It will give me something to write about another day, right?

Reuse those glass containers

I started this post awhile back and was finally motivated to finish it today. For the most part, all of our glass gets recycled. I hate clutter so I don't usually keep glass containers for future use, but recently have come across some pretty good ideas. I might have to start saving some jars.

• Did you know that you can turn your blender into a spice grinder using a mason jar. How cool is that? Too bad I already have a coffee/spice grinder. If anyone has tried it, let me know.
• You can also reuse glass containers and jars as to go coffee cups or water containers.
• These jar tops are really cool. You screw them on glass jars that you may normally recycle to make them more functional. It does not look like they are readily available in the US yet, but maybe soon.
• Use them for storage of knicknacks, loose change, or other miscellaneous items.
• Instead of using plastic, store leftover food in them.
• Small jars can be used to hold votive or tealight candles.
• Glass dressing bottles can be reused to store homemade dressing.
• Tie a ribbon around the top of a jar and use as a vase
• Make a lightbulb into salt and pepper shakers. (I would probably never do this, but it sure does look cool.)
• Turn a cider jar into a mini greenhouse. (Can you tell I like Readymade Magazine?)
• Last but not least, get crafty and make a soy candle

I hope you find these suggestions useful. Please remember to enter my giveaway that ends June 10th.

My Son's Green-ish Birthday Party

We celebrated my son's 2nd birthday yesterday. Since we were having the party at our house and only family was invited, I knew it would be easier to make the party "green-ish". I knew that I would not be able to avoid the typical birthday cake. We were browsing Publix.com looking for a cake for my daughter's birthday cake and my son saw the one above and freaked out. He has a slight obsession with trucks. So I did not even try to change that aspect of the party. Here are a few of the things that we did to make our birthday party a little greener.

• I bought some fabric for a tablecloth, which cost me $8.00. I plan to reuse the fabric to make a pillow case and maybe something else for my son. I could also sew gift bags with the leftover fabric.
• We used biodegradeable and compostable paper plates.
• I had a stash of plastic forks and napkins from previous parties that we used.
• We dug out these really cool glasses that we got as a wedding gift as well as my grandma's wine glasses, instead of using plastic ones.
• I tried to keep the food fairly healthy. We served Cottage Cheese Egg Muffins, fruit with a yogurt dip, apples and bananas with a chocolate peanut butter dip, and ham biscuits.
• I only had to do 2 party favor bags so that made things a little less complicated. I purchased 2 felt bags that had a dump truck on the front. I filled each bag with a matchbox truck, bubbles, and a package of fruit snacks.

Overall the party was a success and I feel pretty good about it. My daugther's party will be a different story, but that is for another post.

Not All Sunscreens Are Created Equally

I never put much thought into sunscreen before now. I usually picked up whatever was on sale and only looked at the SPF. After doing some research and reading the information on EWG.org (which I guess you can tell I rely on heavily), I have realized there is a lot more to it. Just like all other skincare products there are ingredients and chemicals that are safer and more effective than others. EWG.org uses a rating system to come up with a hazard score, so it is easy to look up a product and know how safe it is to use. They also have very handy guides that tell you the best products to use.

I will summarize what I have learned so far. When buying sunscreen, look for the ingredients zinc oxide and titanium dioxide. These ingredients stay on the skin's surface and they provide protection against UVB and UVA radiation. UVB radition causes sunburn, whereas UVA radiation causes skin damage, aging, and cancer. Coverage for both are labeled as broad spectrum coverage. You also want to use SPF 15 or higher.

Here are the ingredients to avoid:
Oxybenzone - In sunlight, can produce allergy- and cancer-causing chemicals
DMDM Hydantoin - Allergen and irritant that can form cancer-causing contaminants
Triethanolamine - Allergen and irritant that can form cancer-causing contaminants

I purchased some Blue Lizard Sensitive Sunscreen, but all of the California Baby products have high ratings and can be found at places like Whole Foods and Target. I am also going to try the California Baby Sunscreen Stick to use for our faces.


Of course, there are also other steps you should take besides wearing sunscreen. Wear a shirt, hat, and sunglasses and try to stay in the shade. If at all possible, try to limit the amount of time you are in the sun between 10:00 am-2:00 pm. I know this is a lot easier said than done, especially when you have children begging to play outside. All we can do is our best and being aware of the dangers is a good first step.

Plastic safety has my head spinning

All of this talk about safe versus toxic plastics has my head spinning. It is almost impossible to avoid plastic. It is everywhere. I have become more aware of the "safe" and "unsafe" plastics. I now check the bottom of plastic containers before buying something, but it is still confusing to me. I knew the only way for me to get it straight in my head was to type up a post. So here we are.

Here is a breakdown by number according to healthychild.org.

Safer Choices:

#1, #2, #4 (which use polythylene) and # 5 (which is polypropylene)
They use less toxic additives and are non-chlorinated.
Avoid:

#3 (Polyvinyl Chloride or PVC), #6 (polystyrene), and # 7 (includes polycarbonate- containing BISPHENOL A or BPA when a plastic is made of different layers with different plastics it falls into this category too)

Why are #3, #6, and # 7 considered unsafe?

#3 Polyvinyl Chloride (PVC)- Over the course of its lifecycle PVC releases the toxic chemicals dioxin, mercury, and phthalates. When produced or burned, dioxin is released. Dioxin can cause cancer and harm the immune and reproductive system. Phthalates are added to PVC to make it soft and flexible. This is often used in childrens toys. These chemicals can leach out of the PVC when chewed on by children. It is suspected to be a carcinogen and reproductive toxicant. PVC also can not be recycled, so it poses environmental concerns as well.

#6 Polystyrene- Otherwise known as Styrofoam. Styrene, the fundamental building block, is classified as a possible human carcinogen. Toxic chemicals leach out of these products into food especially when heated in the microwave. There are many environmental concerns with this product as well. It is able to be recycled, but there is limited availability of these resources.

# 7 Polycarbonate- Many Nalgene bottles and baby bottles are made of polycarbonate containing Bisphenol A(BPA) , which can disrupt the hormonal system. It can mimic human estrogen and is linked to breast cancer and early puberty in women. BPA is also found in the epoxy lining of many canned foods. According to the Environmental Working Group, of all the foods tested chicken soup, ravioli, and infant formula had BPA levels of the highest concern. The danger of BPA has been making the news more and more lately so many companies are offering BPA-free products now.

Check out Z Recommends. It is a great resource and has some very interesting articles to read. They also have a very extensive report regarding BPA in Children's Feeding Products.

Green & Clean Mom also has some great posts on BPA. They contain several resources and links so it is very informative.

Please note I am in no way an expert and compiled this information from sources on the internet. This is the way I understand it. The information provided is a summary for people like me who need it broken down simply. Now that I have a grasp of this information, hopefully I can dive in deeper. I will keep you posted.

What does Going Green mean?

One of the hot air balloons that floated over our house this afternoon.

Going green means something different to everyone. On wikipedia.com Going Green is redirected to Environmentalism. According to wikipedia .com, environmentalism is "a broad philosophy and social movement centered on a concern for the conservation and improvement of the natural environment, both for its own sake as well as its importance to civilization."

To me right now going green means conserving energy, creating less waste, recycling, educating myself, and being aware of my impact on the environment. I want my children to grow up in a safe and unpolluted environment.

Here are some new green tips. I am calling them my easy ecos.

1. Don't get an ATM receipt or a receipt at the gas station. (Thanks to Dana for that one)

2. Sign-up for your bills to be automatically drafted from your bank account. You can also sign up to receive your bills via e-mail. No more bills in the mail, no more checks, and no more stamps.

3. Green Dimes- This is another great way to get rid of that junk mail. It costs $20 and they use this money to plant 5 trees. (Thanks to Dana for this one too.)